SAY GOODBYE TO KENTUCKY IN CONVERSE AS TEAM GOES TO NIKE

The Men's and Women's NCAA Basketball Tournaments
concluded over the weekend, with Arizona beating Kentucky
last night on CBS in overtime action.
SWEET LUTE: Joyce Russell, Dir of Sales & Marketing at
Indy's Westin Hotel, on the weekend: "It will be busier than
either the Indianapolis 500 or Brickyard 400" (INDIANAPOLIS
STAR-NEWS, 3/29). On ESPN's "The Sports Reporters," Bob
Ryan on the NCAA Tournament: "It's the last great communal
event in America. The World Series isn't the same anymore,
the Miss America Pageant isn't the same anymore and Ed
Sullivan has been off the air for 26 years" ("The Sports
Reporters," 3/30). John Feinstein: "The Final Four has
reached a level now that it can be mentioned in the same
sentence with the World Series and the Super Bowl in terms
of television ratings, media coverage, in terms of being a
'tough ticket,' and unfortunately, in terms of corporate
involvement" (Ross Atkin, CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR, 3/31).
CATS SAY SEE 'YA TO CONVERSE: Kentucky has signed a new
basketball deal with Nike, "probably the highest in college
basketball," according to Rudy Martzke of USA TODAY. A bid
by adidas for $1.7M a year "was rejected" by the university.
Kentucky was with Converse (USA TODAY, 4/1).
NIKE, NIKE EVERYWHERE: The CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR's
Matthew Eisley wrote the Final Four is a "publicity bonanza
for Nike. ... It's clear for The Swoosh, the Final Four is a
swish -- nothing but net profits" (CHRISTIAN SCIENCE
MONITOR, 3/31). In Cincinnati, host of the Women's Final
Four, Jeff Harrington: "It's not the swish of the basketball
taking over Cincinnati during the Women's Final Four; it's
The Swoosh." Nike sent around 175 employees to Cincy this
week, "four times more" than the sports company sent to
Indianapolis. Reebok was "working out of an 18-foot
trailer" and the company "urged downtowners to 'test the
shoe that beat Nike Air Max.'" Reebok's Dave Fogelson:
"Even if our presence is a bit more low-key or subtle, we're
still getting our message out" (CINCINNATI ENQUIRER, 3/29).
NCAA SPONSORS FEEL WHOOPEE CUSHION? BRANDWEEK's Terry
Lefton writes that the GTE logoed NCAA seat-cushions in
Indianapolis marks the "first times the NCAA has let
corporate identification of any kind inside the arena where
the Final Four is held. And it's the latest evidence that
the marquee U.S. sports property with the most stringent
marketing regulations is loosening up, if ever so slightly"
(BRANDWEEK, 3/31 issue).